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Romancing the Middle By Antonio C. Abaya Written August 02, 2005 For the Standard Today, August 04 issue Is there a public figure in this nation of 84 million who is beholden to neither President Arroyo nor the opposition trapos who are moving heaven and earth to demolish her presidency, her family and even her person to the level of shell-shattered Stalingrad after the epic battle? Who is under no illusion that a return to power of a criminally inclined ignoramus represents anything but a shameless regression to an infantile past devoid of moral moorings, and who would therefore have no truck with fake revolutionary councils specifically designed to hasten that regression? Who harbors no silly hope, either, that a Maoist dictatorship of the proletariat constitutes the wave of the future even after - haven�t they heard? - the homelands of both Leninism and Maoism have long waved goodbye to that allegedly inevitable future? Who is not fooled by the cheery glad-handing and non-stop smooth talking by the likes of snake-oil salesmen Sunshine Joe and Chiz and Baby Face Nelson as they tirelessly polish (or tarnish) the objects of their partisan endearment? Who is not sick and tired of the endless parade of witnesses and counter-witnesses, of lies and counter-lies, of unfounded allegations and unfounded counter-allegations, which seem to constitute the supreme political wisdom of an incorrigibly quarrelsome people? And who is, at the same time, not embarrassed or terrified to tell President Arroyo to her face that through sins of omission and commission in the past four years, she has missed her chance at greatness, as some of her predecessors likewise did during their watch? And that she should devote her remaining weeks and months in office, not in trying to reincarnate into a smiling new persona - her smiles just make her look more supercilious - but in mapping out a graceful exit, come what may? Is there such a public figure in this nation of 84 million? The apparent absence of such a public figure around whom to rally, and the resultant reluctance of the middle class to engage in political action, has recently spurred various well-meaning individuals and groups to try to fill in the void, with less than spectacular results. The most recent attempt is by a group headed by Running Priest Fr. Robert Reyes and Environmentalist Nicky Perlas, who are pictured on the front page of the July 27 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, against a backdrop of a na�f painting of the EDSA multitude at the People Power monument on EDSA, which seems a deliberate substitute for the thin crowd that attends their pakulo. Their formula for saving the country�s woes, said the Inquirer: fasting and meditation. �What the country needs is a dose of spirituality, humility and self-sacrifice. For them, individuals must change before institutions can.� Fr. Reyes, who has been on a hunger strike for three weeks to protest the refusal of the Catholic bishops to demand President Arroyo�s resignation, called on people to offer prayers and bring flowers and candles to the EDSA monument. �Maybe prayers will convince Malacanang�s occupant to resign,� he said. Well, on the other hand, maybe they won�t.. Perlas, for his part, said that �What went wrong after EDSA 2 was that civil society, instead of staying as critic of government, joined the government.. Now the people have no alternative, and that is why they have not taken to the streets�.Today�s revolutionaries must not be the beneficiaries of their revolution..� This is a na�ve view of revolution, even if one were to classify EDSA 2 as a revolution, which it was not. Would Lenin�s Bolsheviks have waged their revolution, only to give power to the Mensheviks? Would the Viet Cong have sacrificed one million of their young people, only to install, say, Buddhist monks in Saigon�s presidential palace? No wonder the middle class has not responded in their hundreds of thousands to the Reyes-Perlas initiative. Instinctively, the middle class knows that when one wages revolution, one wages it to win, to grab power for oneself or one�s class or one�s political ideals, not for some other beneficiary. And there is no need to be shy or coy about this. At least, Binay and JV are more honest: their phony revolutionary council is meant to restore Erap to power or, at the very least, clear him of the plunder charges pending against him, not to install Abat or De Villa or Susan or Brother Eddie in power, even if they were na�ve (I�m trying not use the word �stupid�) enough to join their fake revolution. Another group trying to romance the middle class was written up in the July 26 issue of the Inquirer. The White Ribbon Movement (WRM), said to be a group of religious leaders, professionals and academicians who have added their voices to the rising calls for President Arroyo�s resignation, want you to tie white ribbons to your home, your car or your workplace, if you want GMA to resign. Although the WRM seems to have more organizations behind it than the Reyes-Perlas fasting and meditation brigade, the personalities behind it are all or mostly unknowns, people with no doubt spotless credentials but so spotless as to render them practically invisible. While it is important for a political movement to adopt a symbol (white ribbons) or a color or a hand signal, in order to inculcate feelings of solidarity and togetherness, it is extremely hard to generate a bandwagon effect among the general public if the leaders of the movement are so unknown as to be practically invisible. My friend Nandy Pacheco has probably advanced further than either the WRM or the Reyes-Perlas brigade in the effort to romance the middle class. Pacheco organized his Kapatiran party before the May 2004 elections, but it was not recognized as a party by the Comelec until after the elections. Nevertheless, Kapatiran claims chapters all over the country and has a specific program of government. But it has not really caught fire or generated a mass following. It could be because its program of government bases itself deliberately on the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, which many in the middle class have strong disagreement with. Or it could be because, aside from Nandy himself, the other luminaries in Kapatiran are relatively unknown. Or both. In the meantime, a pair of public opinion surveys conducted nationwide by Pulse Asia in June and July 2005 revealed some interesting preferences. In response to the question on which persons are the best to lead the country, respondents made the following choices: Noli de Castro 26% in July, 30% in June, with strong showing in the DE classes Panfilo Lacson 21% in July, 16% in June, with strong showing in the ABCD Joseph Estrada 11% in July, 19% in June, with moderate showing in the E Susan Roces 10% in July, not included in June, with moderate showing in the E Eddie Villanueva 2% in July, 4% in June Rodolfo Biazon 2% in July, 2% in June Fortunato Abat 0% in July, 0% in June In response to the question on which persons are UNACCEPTABLE to lead the country, the respondents made the following choices: Gloria Arroyo 47% in July, 42% in June: attitude prevalent in ABCDE classes Eddie Villanueva 28% in July, 31% in June: ditto Fidel Ramos 24% in July, 39% in June: ditto Fortunato Abat 21% in July, 27% in June: ditto Susan Roces 20% in July, not included in June: ditto Joseph Estrada 20% in July, 26% in June: ditto Panfilo Lacson 20% in July, 28% in June: ditto Hilario Davide Jr. 18% in July, 17% in June: ditto Rodolfo Biazon 12% in July, 15% in June: ditto Noli de Castro 12% in July, 10% in June: ditto Those who want to romance the middle class will have to go back to the drawing boards and divine the significance of these numbers. I will try to do so in a future article.***** Reactions to [email protected] and fax 824-7642. Other articles in www.tapatt.org. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |
| Reactions to �Romancing the Middle� The article is accurate and well written. No corrupt, selfish and greedy politicians can excite getting the support of the middle class who knows that the present ill of the country is corruption. No one can solve corruption except those who exercise high moral and ethical standard. And ethics is a science of moral choice. Jesse Alto, [email protected] August 05, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, Do bear in mind that what you cite below are not from open-ended questions but are choices from a limited list of names. If Erap may be asked about, then why not Cory and FVR also? Why not Joema, to see how he matches up? Why Abat but not, say, de Villa who is also a retired general? Why only these particular two senators and not also others with obvious Presidential ambitions? Mahar Mangahas, Social Weather Stations, August 05, 2005 MY REPLY. Good point. Why doesn�t SWS do a survey with open-ended questions and let us see how the results compare with Pulse Asia�s? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww The "middle" is the inertia. Now don�t take inertia in a negativistic way but the way a physicist looks at it. The inertia is like the flywheel. It prevents a runaway engine. Ross Tipon, [email protected] Baguio City, August 05, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww The Integrity of Witnesses So Bishop Cruz's Jueteng payola witness Richard Garcia tearfully asked for Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's forgiveness for the statements he reportedly made earlier, where she was implicated. The apology was made after opposition leaders in the persons of Senator Lacson who himself is not lily-white when it comes to involvement in such illegal activities; Representative Zamora and Mayor Binay, all of whom are identified with disgraced president Estrada. I never called him Erap. Addressing a person by his first name connotes familiarity or personal closeness. One of the main reasons why Philippine politics and politicians have degenerated to their lowest levels and are commonly regarded with utter disrespect and disgust, to put it kindly, is because of familiarity and personal relationships. A friendship based on pecuniary considerations is a relationship hatched in hell. I learned from my Character Education teacher in the grade school that familiarity breeds contempt and since then kept that teaching in my heart and mind. I remember a report which stated Atong Ang (an Estrada friend), saying, "Sobrang takaw sa pera and p___ ina..." referring allegedly to the deposed president. Would you say that of a friend? Now, going back to Garcia, had these nebulous Estrada men not meddled in the case Garcia may not have retracted his statements. These persons muddled the case Bishop Cruz was trying to build and the credibility of his witnesses are being eroded, thus giving Arroyo ass kisser Mr. Claudio ammunition that prompted him to say that the case is closed. The desire to bring Macapagal-Arroyo down must not be fueled by self serving agenda by anyone, much less from the opposition. It should be a concerted effort of all who do not aspire for personal benefits but for the nation's interests as a whole. It should be based on the utilitarian doctrine and not on the vested interests of a privileged few. Ramon Mayuga, [email protected] Essen, Germany, August 05, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, As I saw it, when I visited the country at the height of the Arroyo-Garci tape, people loved to talk and gossip about the alleged recorded conversation only. I saw no reaction that will move people to converge at EDSA. People were confused which tapes were real and which are phonies. Much of the sporadic demonstrations only caused traffic jams on rush hours and lengthened the average commute time of the tired and exhausted working class. The people who presented themselves as alternatives to Arroyo , if ever she steps down, were not perceived as worthy replacements. Those who lead all these orchestrated demonstrations have no credibility. I thought that priests should engage themselves in social actions rather than be consumed in government politics, protesting and going on a hunger strike.. Brother Villanueva should bring his flock chanting praises to the Lord and singing gospel songs. As to Abat, I say "huwag ka nang sumabat" Dr. Nestor P. Baylan, [email protected] New York City, August 05, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww The problem with public perception of Panfilo Lacson is that they believe he is tough when actually I do remember how Leandro Mendoza simply pushed him aside without a fight in EDSA 2. Do you remember how Leandro took over Camp Crame and Ping didn't even go down fighting for his boss Estrada? Which then makes me wonder, will Lacson have the balls to go after a rebellious AFP especially when he has a reputation there of not being a fighter but more of a politico? As for surveys, notice that Ramos is a capable person but is not posting favorable in the survey? Sure he's got a bad rep too as someone who had his hands in the cookie jar but really, he's got better crisis management skills then all the rest combined. But lo and behold, jokers like Noli get tops who also has his hand in the cookie jar but doesn't have the skill and astuteness of Ramos. Just shows you how stupid the Filipino people are. That's why there are revolutions OR state of emergencies OR martial law. We have to take the decision-making processes out of the hands of the nincompoop masses who may very well vote another joker into office should there be totally clean and honest elections. Am I jaded, or am I jaded? Buddha bless you, Mang Tony! Jose Custodio, [email protected] August 05, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Ka Tony, Thank you so much for including me in your list. Sincerely appreciate the effort on top of every word and opinion you share with us of what is best for our country and people. Rashid Fabricante, [email protected] Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, August 06, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Good morning, Mr. Abaya, It has become so bad... As a Filipino, I can't even say, "We are a country of leaders...nor we have a strong leader...nor even, we are good followers. Those who are supposed to make laws, find ways to break the law, or even break the law, and get away with it. (They don't even make laws at all, do they?)..so busy trying to appear busy..or noble...or ' truthful'. I can't seem to find anyone whom we voted to office who is honest. It's all because of money. Money that is there for the taking, without anyone, yes, any one, saying that's a violation and you go to jail. Every one has been corrupted!!! The reality is we cannot expect change to come from within the Philippines. It must be triggered from the outside. The help we need is not on security, nor on finance, nor health. I maintain what we have to do is ask assistance from the U.S., or Japan, or Great Britain, to help us manage our , repeat, our money, so our politicians don't get away with stealing money that rightfully belongs to the people. No one will lose his job. Just Big Brother in there ensuring 'food for the family is not stolen, nor eaten by hungry dogs'. Can you write on this, please. You do it so well. The federalism, parliamentary topic is too controversial and politically motivated. I have challenged so many of my friends just to think about the good putting the money of the Filipino people in the Bank of United States, or Great Britain, or Japan, (without losing any of our rights to it !!!) can do to the Filipino people? If there is foreign assistance the Filipinos have to ask for, it is the above. A simple and very practical solution to what is the cause of all our woes: MONEY - not lack of it, but of politicians stealing it !!! Yes, the pen is mightier than the sword...if the pen gets people moving towards a solution ! All the best. Reynaldo Fuentes, [email protected] August 16, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I think there's something hopeful to be said about the middle class's unreadiness to go to EDSA. I like to think it's weighing carefully who's going to lead this country, taking into consideration the disappointments of EDSA 1 and 2. Maybe after a while we'll find someone who's not a Ramos, an Estrada. a Cory Aquino, or certainly not a Gloria who's in bed with the greatest jueteng lord. We must put our trust that this time the middle class will chose a true leader. Vicente C. de Jesus, [email protected] August 21, 2005 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |